At the beginning of the 20th century, corporations spent $450 million on advertising. From 1975 to 2005, spending increased more than 1,000 percent.

Sources: Advertising Age Special Issue: The Advertising Century; The 2007 Statistical Abstract of the United States; Currents and Undercurrents: Changes in the Distribution of Wealth, 1989–2004 (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System); 2007 Executive PayWatch (America's Union Movement)